He Isn't You
by Doowtam
Summary: Spoilers for and probably won't make sense if you haven't seen the promo for the new episode Honor Among Thieves. RootxShaw. Jealous!Root. I just wrote this quickly because I couldn't sleep until I got it out of my head.


Root watches with Harold from the safety of their underground hideout as their latest poi runs his hand up and down Shaw's thigh.

"Nothing unlocks doors like a beautiful woman" he says in his thick accent as his hand comes to rest on her knee. His fingers toying with the end of her dress.

Root feels like she is going to be physically ill, but keeps it together and tries to inject that familiar flirty tone into her voice as she reminds Shaw "A line like that would never work on a trained operative."

She's trying to stay calm and keep her playful exterior, but inside she feels like she's about to explode and not in the good way. Her heart is racing and palms sweating as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat.

"Do you want to get out of here?" she hears Shaw say to the man and then the familiar click of the line of communication being closed.

Root is now on her feet, hands clenching in to fists as she stares at the monitor only glancing over once at Harold to glare at him.

"It's okay Miss Groves. I'm sure Miss Shaw knows what she is doing" he tries to reassure her.

Root just continues to stare at the monitor as she watches Shaw get up and walk away from the man. She lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding in and sits back down.

Sensing she needs space and because he's a little frightened of her at this moment, Harold gets up to make some tea for the both of them.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" says Shaw's voice in his ear.

"I'm leaving our line open, but I had to turn Root's off. I couldn't... I... I just can't have her..." Shaw tried to explain but since she didn't really understand it herself how could she find the words to tell Harold.

"It's fine. We won't have eyes on you anymore once you leave the restaurant so I advise you to be cautious" Harold whispers in response.

Harold returns to Root's side with a cup of tea and offers it to her. With her eyes still focused on the monitor she takes the offered cup. She watches as the poi helps Shaw put on her jacket and that feeling of nausea returns to hit her like a wave. Her grip tightens on her tea cup as she watches them exit the restaurant and out of the view of the camera. Her jaw clenches and she can hear the loud thump of her heart beat in her ears.

"Miss Groves?" Harold tentatively says.

Root stands up forgetting all about the tea cup in her hand as she lets it drop to the floor. Harold winches as it shatters but is relieved all of his electronics are spared from the liquid.

"We have to go find them. Right now. She is being reckless" Root explains.

"Well if anyone would know about being reckless, it would be you Miss Groves, but I'm more than confident that Miss Shaw can handle herself. Why don't you just relax and I'll get you another cup of tea" Harold gives her a small smile as he moves to get up again.

Root continues to stand as she focuses on her breathing and looks at Harold straight in the eye.

"Does she really already know?" Root questions as she swallows the lump in her throat and wills the tears forming in her eyes to go away.

Harold just gives her another small sad smile and replies with a nod.

Root feels another larger tsunami size wave of nausea hit her and she suddenly feels the need to run fast and far. She quickly pulls her jacket on and escapes out of there before Harold has a chance to say anything else.

"I'm assuming you heard all of that, Miss Shaw" Harold says coldly.

The only response he receives is the click of the line of communication going dead and he knows that she has.

XXX

It's almost 4 in the morning and it takes all the energy Shaw has to walk the steps of her building up to her apartment. It turns out the poi was a perpetrator and the ensuing fight left her physically drained.

As she walks towards her door she sees a familiar figure sitting against it. She gets closer to find Root slumped over fast asleep. Shaw isn't completely ready to handle whatever this may be so she waits a few minutes before kicking Root's feet to wake her up. Root's peaceful features fade away and are replaced by ones of confusion and then what Shaw believes is a mixture of worry and sadness.

"What are you doing here?" Shaw asks more angrily than she actually feels.

"To talk." Root answers as she stretches a little and then rises to her feet.

"It's four in the morning and I'm exhausted" but her reply doesn't stop Root from following her into the apartment after she unlocks the door.

"Well I didn't expect you to be out so late" Root bites back. As the sentence leaves her mouth she feels that familiar lump return to her throat and that knot in her stomach twist a little harder.

Shaw ignores her and the remark as she takes off her heals and heads to the refrigerator to grab a beer. She opens it and swallows two giant gulps trying to loosen her own familiar knot in her stomach that seems to only appear when the other woman is around. Shaw jumps up to sit on the counter top resting her head against the cabinets as she feels the weight of the current situation around her. She knew she wouldn't be able to avoid this conversation for much longer as the tension just seemed to grow exponentially between them over the past few weeks. It is so great right now that it's making it hard for Shaw to push the air out of her lungs and to suck it back in. She closed her eyes as she took another swig of her beer.

She wasn't sure how long she was sitting like that, but when she opened her eyes Root was leaning against the opposite counter watching her. Shaw suddenly felt something akin to anticipation as Root's eyes unabashedly roamed over her. She suddenly became hyper aware of the revealing dress she was currently wearing and she nervously cleared her throat. Root's eyes continued their journey stopping on her face and locking onto her eyes as she said "Watching you from the camera did not do you justice. You are absolutely beautiful." Root's voice had absolutely no hint of her usual flirtation as she paid the woman the compliment. Shaw had been called some version of beautiful a million times before by hundreds of different men and women and she always just brushed it off, but when Root said it she actually believed her. Her face and chest felt hot and both had no doubt turned red, but she chose to blame that on the beer she was drinking.

"You sure made it easy for that man to say yes" Root added as her harsh tone from earlier returned to her voice.

"Root." Shaw let out with a sigh. She didn't know how to handle this. She had no idea what she was supposed to say or how she was supposed to say it. Feelings were difficult and messy and this is the exact reason why she avoided relationships. But for some reason she doesn't want to avoid Root and the feelings that come with her.

"I didn't sleep with him" Shaw offers hoping to somehow make those tears she can see threatening to fall from Root's eyes go away. Root glances away from her hoping she has enough strength to not let any fall.

Shaw realizes she's always been better at actions than words and so she places her empty beer bottle down, jumps off the counter, and closes the distance between them. Root has her head turned to the side trying to avoid Shaw's stare and ignore her close proximity. That is useless when Shaw reaches out her hand to put a strand of hair behind Root's ear then slowly runs her fingers over her stapedectomy scar until she finally lets her hand rest cupping Root's cheek and effectively turning her face so they are looking in to each other's eyes.

"And I never wanted to sleep with him." Shaw adds hoping her voice and current physical contact make Root believe her.

A million thoughts and questions were running through Root's mind, but the only one she could manage to get out was a quiet "Why?"

Shaw gave a small knowing smile as she moved her hand to the back of Root's neck bringing her down as she softly replied "Because he isn't you" before she brought their lips together in a kiss that managed to replace the knots in their stomachs with a burning desire.


End file.
